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Nine months after taking office, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani finds himself under pressure from both his reformist supporters and hard-line conservatives as efforts to spur political change and economic progress have stumbled. Rouhani has faced a backlash in recent weeks from the very base that helped get him elected, which now sees a lack of movement to bolster personal liberties or free political prisoners. Meanwhile, both reformists and hard-liners are increasingly frustrated over economic woes. The troubles are manifested by a recent hike in gasoline prices and caused in part by international economic sanctions as negotiations over Iran's nuclear development program continue....

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Nine months after taking office, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani finds himself under pressure from both his reformist supporters and hard-line conservatives as efforts to spur political change and economic progress have stumbled.
Rouhani has faced a...

The tragedy of Iran is that it may not be able to reach an agreement over its nuclear program even when it knows it needs one. The Islamic Republic's political class knows its hold on power depends on sustained economic growth, and that in turn requires a...

The United States is irked that Iran has chosen as its representative to the United Nations a diplomat who apparently was involved with a student group that seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The embassy takeover, a violation of international...

Another spring, another college commencement speaker contoversy.
In 1990, students at Wellesley College objected to First Lady Barbara Bush, who they felt was not sufficiently feminist as she had dropped out of Smith College in 1944 to get married.
In...

TEHRAN — The room at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce offices was packed and noisy. At the lectern, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi encouraged dozens of merchants and manufacturers to "seize the opportunity" that could result from an easing...

The war of words between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his conservative critics is escalating as nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers are set to enter a potentially decisive phase next week.
The president and his supporters came out...

Iran's nuclear negotiating team has come to this city hoping to seal a deal on its disputed nuclear program that will finally remove the international sanctions crippling its economy.
But just in case they don't win that diplomatic victory, they are...

Relations between Britain and Iran have improved in recent months and "circumstances are right" to reopen the British Embassy in Tehran, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday.
The election a year ago of moderate Iranian President...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani found himself in a political firestorm Tuesday, the day after he denounced his hard-line critics as “political cowards” who oppose his efforts to reach an agreement with the West over the country's nuclear program.
Two...

TEHRAN -- In these first days of Ramadan, many Iranians hoped to hear a familiar and beloved voice as they tuned into state radio or switched on TV just before iftar, the evening meal that signals the end of the dawn-to-dusk fast.
They were looking...

North Korea: Baby steps back from the brink
Wednesday, June 12 – After more than a month of ominous silence that followed threats to launch nuclear weapons, North Korea appears to be making modest motions toward easing tensions on the divided peninsula....

TEHRAN -- Leading reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref announced Tuesday that he was dropping out of the race to be Iran's next president, leaving centrist Hassan Rowhani as the sole moderate-leaning candidate in Friday’s election.
There had been...

Iran’s ruling theocracy was unable to overcome its notorious infighting and unite behind a single candidate in Friday’s presidential election, which has suddenly boosted the prospects of the lone moderate in the race and rekindled interest among some...

TEHRAN — Iranian President-elect Hassan Rowhani on Monday promised to make the country’s nuclear program more transparent, fueling hopes that the moderate cleric can make headway on an issue that has wreaked havoc on the Islamic Republic’s...

With the election of congenial pragmatist Hassan Rowhani as the next president, Iran has caught the world off-guard.
Emigres, opposition figures and diplomats had written off Friday’s vote as a preordained elevation of another anti-Western hard-liner...

The election of Hassan Rowhani as president of Iran is good news for Americans, except for the neoconservative hawks who brought us the war in Iraq and have been especially eager for another military adventure in Iran.
In Iranian terms, Rowhani is a...

TEHRAN — A spat over the possible reopening of a shuttered film institute is pitting Iran's culture overseers against an alliance of moviemakers and cinema buffs emboldened by the victory of moderate Hassan Rouhani in June's presidential balloting.
The...

As Americans pack their bags and hoist their backpacks for an end-of-summer foreign adventure, a U.S. government travel alert is urging them to be vigilant amid indications that Islamic militants are plotting terrorist strikes.
The State Department's...

TEHRAN -- Hassan Rouhani became the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday, officially receiving the endorsement of the nation’s supreme leader at a formal ceremony here in the capital.
Rouhani, 64, a cleric considered a moderate...

TEHRAN — Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, said Sunday that his nation would not be intimidated by threats and demanded “respect” from the global community.
“If you want the right response, it should not be through the language of sanctions, it...